< atton revisited > The information page for Atton has been fully revised and updated with the new map!
< updated calendar > The Fortuna calendar has been updated in the "Other" lore section! This includes a document which displays the calendar for you to see, making it much easier to understand.
< moving map > The first functional map has been released in the News section! This map is also interactive, allowing you to drag and drop between points in order to determine distances. This is the first iteration, and there's more and better to come!
< first annual awards > The results for the First Annual Fortuna Year-End Awards have been posted! Go and take a look at who the finalists were, and who took home the big prizes!
< new default skin > Our new skin has passed the beta test, and is now the new Default for the forums! If you have any issues with this skin, send a PM or Discord to Mellie.
< human lore update > Humans have been updated with TWENTY-FIVE subraces/subcultures which add numerous options, and a little extra lore and flavour.
< magic lore update > Magical Lore has been enhanced with the addition of a post on Magical Education. From Beginner to Expert, this is how you learn the spells.
< a change to member groups > Member groups are now based on storyline! You can change your displayed storyline by editing the settings in your profile.
Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Post by Relos Voden on Feb 21, 2017 13:04:03 GMT -7
Early Afternoon, The 3rd of The Empty Lantern, 5153 A Small Café in Downtown Enezenn
Markus Woodrow had said his people would arrive in the new year. It had only been the third day of the year, but Relos was anxious to start working with Woodrow. Well, his workers, at least. The streets had been quiet in the past few months. There was not much news lately of anyone going missing, so some people assumed that Christel Lirrae was exaggerating the idea that people from Telon were trying to kidnap people from within the sector. Most of the news lately were fairly standard reports saying “We are making progress into our investigations.” It offered some sense of complacency, but it was so vague that it was hard to believe that anything was truly being done.
Markus Woodrow had set a meeting place. There was a café he was familiar with, although Woodrow himself wouldn’t be speaking with Relos. After all, he was supposed to be sending people who would be working for Relos. It was exciting, but… these people would no doubt be professionals. They would know what they would be doing, and they’d have to report to Relos. What was he supposed to do, stutter as he tried to think of how they could help? They wouldn’t even need him, and they could just go right to Telon on their own if Woodrow asked them to.
“Ah, welcome back!” The owner waved to Relos. He had come in yesterday, hoping that the workers had arrived early. Sure, the meeting was scheduled for today, but maybe they would have appreciated him showing up a whole day earlier. It could have been a chance encounter, and they could start work even sooner… but none of them had come. The meeting had to be today, here and now.
Relos ordered a vanilla latte and a muffin. As the owner prepared his order, Relos took a seat, facing towards the door. Sure, this needed to be serious business, but there was no harm in getting a good, quick meal in the meantime.
Post by Markus Woodrow on Oct 4, 2017 10:37:54 GMT -7
[attr="class","mwoody"]
[attr="class","mwoody2"]
[attr="class","mwoody3"]A PREDATOR OF THE SEAS
[attr="class","mwoody4"]CURING THIS OCEAN DISEASE
[attr="class","mwoody5"]OOC: Note that Woodrow is not present in this thread, but his SSPB officers are, who I will play through this account.
There were only a few other customers at the cafe today. Even despite the chill in the winter air that may make a cafe attractive, there were other locations that people preferred to attend, and so this little spot's business relied mostly on it's regulars, three of which sat throughout the somewhat ragged space.
One was Relos, on his second day in a row, facing the door as he had done the day before. Another was a young woman who almost blended into the coffee-cream brown of the walls with her muddy brown hair in a tight, low ponytail; dark brown eyes set in a dark brown face; who wore simple greys and beiges in a style that hadn't been fashionable since last year. Her wallflower look was completed with large, round, wire-frame glasses. The last of the regulars was a man of older age and somewhat impressive stature. He sat near the window, seemingly reading a paper as he drank cup after cup of coffee. His skin was tan from sun - how it stayed that way in the winter was a mystery - and the tweed business suit he wore seemed like it was made for a man an inch or two shorter than him, the striking green of his socks visible as he crossed his legs.
"Waiting for someone?" The tweed man asked, looking over his paper at Relos, "I saw you do the same yesterday." He chuckled a little and set his eyes back to his paper, obviously not interested in a response so much as in telling Relos that he had been noticed.
Behind Relos a chair shifted, screeching against the wood floor. The girl in the corner had stood, and began to make her way to the exit just as the owner approached Relos with his food and drink. The two collided as she passed, and both of her hands immediately reached out to stabilize herself by holding Relos' shoulder and the owner's arm. "I'm so sorry," She offered, her voice as meek as her look. The owner laughed and waved her off, having kept his grip on the plate and cup like the professional he was, "Not a worry, Marie, you have a good day now."
She 'hmmed' her response and nodded, looking outside as her hand remained on Relos' shoulder. "I wonder if it will rain today," She said in a voice just above a whisper. The owner looked out the window as if to verify that yes, it was winter, and yes, it was snowing, and that no, there was no chance of rain today. He left her strange question without a response, shaking his head and setting down the muffin and latte for Relos before chuckling back to the counter.
Giving Relos' shoulder a firm squeeze, the girl took her hand back and spoke one more time as her eyes observed the street outside, "A day like this you should get as much time outside as you can before you're caught in it." And then, she left, heading out into the snow without a single glance back, or a pause to give Relos another moment.
Post by Relos Voden on Oct 6, 2017 10:22:14 GMT -7
"Waiting for someone?" Relos jumped in his seat to see that the man was talking to him. "I saw you do the same yesterday."
Relos recognized the man from the day before, but Relos wasn't quite certainly how to respond. Should he say "Why yes, I'm waiting for people sent by Lord Markus Woodrow himself to help me on an official investigation"? It was hardly the sort of thing that he could just announce to a stranger. What if they thought he was just talking himself up, trying to show off as more important than he really was? What if they just didn't care?
A girl who had been sitting in the corner was making her way to exit. As the owner was bringing Relos's order to him, Relos began to stand up in his seat, but the girl and owner bumped into each other, the girl pushing Relos back into his seat to maintain her balance. Relos's heart skipped a beat at the thought that he could have lost his meal, and that the owner could have been troubled by having to return to prepare his order all over again.
Although the girl - Marie, apparently - apologized, the owner seemed not to mind. He spoke to her so casually. Marie must have been a regular. More to the point, despite there being no accident, the girl was still keeping her hand on Relos's shoulder. It's not like she still needed to keep up her balance. Relos felt like he was shrinking in his seat, especially when she squeezed her hand. She was getting a little too close for comfort.
"A day like this you should get as much time outside as you can before you're caught in it." With that, Marie walked away. It was a little odd, but there was some good advice in his words. Unfortunately, Relos wasn't sure if he could act on it. What if he stepped out of this cafe, just for a little bit, and by the time he came back, he could missed exactly the moment that Woodrow's employees would arrive, expecting him to be there?
As soon as Relos took a bite from his muffin, Relos blinked. Grabbing his drink and his muffin, and leaving the plate behind, Relos ran to his door, rumbling his fingers and pushing against the door with his arm to push it happen. Downing the piece of muffin, Relos walked out into the snow. "Wait, Marie!" He looked back inside the cafe, where the man in the tweed suit sat, then to Marie. "Um. This may sound weird, but can you help me with something? I was supposed to meet someone here, but I don't really know who they are. So, I was wondering if you maybe you were looking for me?"
Post by Markus Woodrow on Oct 7, 2017 20:42:26 GMT -7
[attr="class","mwoody"]
[attr="class","mwoody2"]
[attr="class","mwoody3"]A PREDATOR OF THE SEAS
[attr="class","mwoody4"]CURING THIS OCEAN DISEASE
[attr="class","mwoody5"] Marie had just broken the crowd when Relos came rushing out after her, calling for her to stop. She obeyed at the first sound of her name, but did not turn around. Instead, she took a small step back to avoid the thoroughfare, and raised a hand to her glasses, pressing them up to press against the bridge of her nose. If he looked closely enough, Relos might see the small, almost imperceptible shake of her head, and the minute rise and fall of her shoulders. In a moment however, she was still again and looked up to the sky. Snow fell upon her spectacles, leaving beads of water on the lenses. "The snow is dry this far from the ocean," She stated matter-of-factly, face slightly turned towards him so he could hear. Then, she pulled her coat collar up, and re-entered the crowd.
Post by Relos Voden on Oct 10, 2017 14:35:54 GMT -7
She was certainly strange. Relos couldn't tell if her nod had been her way of saying yes, or if she was just acknowledging that he had been following her. She didn't seem to be exactly running away from him. Maybe she was luring him somewhere else? If his instincts were wrong, then he couldn't stray too far from the cafe, but for now, he saw no other option but to follow her.
If she was more interested in talking about the weather, then Relos would play along. "The snow in Aissic is a lot nicer," he said as he pushed further into the crowd. "It's pretty cold, though." The people in the crowd were moving on their own way, and Relos had to balance walking among them while staying behind Marie. He had been focusing on where she was standing, but every time he tried to catch up, someone else would push their way through. He had to focus not on where she was, but where she would be.
Relos's foot caught on something, and he almost stumbled in place for a second, but managed to maintain his stance as he leaned on others. He looked up to the sky. It wasn't raining, not yet. He hadn't slipped on water or anything, it was just a clumsy step was all. "Wait up a sec! I just want to talk to you!"
Post by Markus Woodrow on Oct 11, 2017 13:01:04 GMT -7
[attr="class","mwoody"]
[attr="class","mwoody2"]
[attr="class","mwoody3"]A PREDATOR OF THE SEAS
[attr="class","mwoody4"]CURING THIS OCEAN DISEASE
[attr="class","mwoody5"] Marie seemed content enough to lead as Relos followed - though she didn't make it easy on him. She moved at a perfectly even pace through the crowds, yes, but she also never gave pause for obstacles. It was almost as if she had walked this exact path many times before, even if that was impossible due to the way that crowds could change and shift at a moment's notice. Still, for every gentleman stopping to check his pocket-watch, she merely side-stepped him; for the foot stone out of place she simply took a longer step; and even when she moved against the flow of the crowd she seemed forever unstilled by them. She never paused to look behind her. And she never lost her balance for even the briefest second on the icy winter streets.
She walked a path that twisted between buildings and alleys, and even wandered from front entrance to side entrance in some smaller establishments. Even while passing through another cafe she moved with a dedicated purpose, not stopping to answer the barista who greeted her. At long last, after what may have been as few as fifteen minutes or as long as an hour, she stopped. Her halt came in an alley, three fifths through, the view of the street almost entirely obscured by two half-full dumping bins. She stopped, turning herself towards a wall, and waited until she heard the steps of Relos coming in behind her. Finally, after never turning to him until that point, she turned her back to the south alley wall, and faced where he was standing.
"Why did you follow me?" She asked, her eyes lazily, but harshly taking in the boy before her as she pushed her spectacles up her nose once more. They flashed slightly as they mirrored the bright light off of the snow piled on the bins, catching his reflection for a moment before they broke away the glimmer. When they did, her eyes were locked onto his. She looked stern, seemingly opposite to her previously airy demeanour in the cafe.
Post by Relos Voden on Oct 18, 2017 17:54:59 GMT -7
Why was he still following her? The longer she kept running, the more he wished she could just stop. Though it's not like she was fleeing. She was practically sliding along her path, like the steps had already been laid about before her, and she was following them with ease. Finally, he had led him into an alley. This was the middle of nowhere, and Relos wasn't sure if she actually had a destination in mind, or if she was simply trying to escape him.
Relos looked around the alley. He held out a hand, allowing some of the snow to fall between his fingers. Relos bit his lip. He wasn't entirely sure what to say, and his gaze would not meet hers. He could follow his way back to the cafe. Probably. He could only hope that she wasn't distracting him. That he wasn't wasting his time following her, when someone else could be looking for him. "Sorry. This seems… kind of creepy, doesn't it?" He took a step forward, then pulled his foot back. Marie's tone was more direct. Demanding, not merely observant like back by the cafe. He cleared his throat, trying to speak with that same manner of directness. "I've been waiting for someone who I've been expecting for a while. We were supposed- scheduled to meet at the cafe. The way you… squeezed my shoulder back there. I'm not sure if that was just an accident, or if you were trying to tell me something."
Relos glanced behind him. Hardly anyone could see them in this hallway, but Relos was still nervous. He glanced at his shoes in the snow. "I'm looking for someone who can help me with whatever's been going on in Telon. I followed you because I thought you might be just the person I've been waiting for, to help me with that. But, if you're not, I'm just going to… go." If she wasn't the right person, would he have said too much? Before Marie could respond, Relos had already begun to turn his back to her, yet he still stood in place. Maybe he should have stayed at the cafe.
Post by Markus Woodrow on Oct 21, 2017 10:58:24 GMT -7
[attr="class","mwoody"]
[attr="class","mwoody2"]
[attr="class","mwoody3"]A PREDATOR OF THE SEAS
[attr="class","mwoody4"]CURING THIS OCEAN DISEASE
[attr="class","mwoody5"] Marie was still and quiet as she listened to Relos, her face never shifting from it's deadpan lock. When Relos turned away, she sighed at an infinitesimal volume, and rolled her eyes slightly before reaching out to grasp Relos' arm. "You're going to need to learn to trust your instincts," She stated harshly, yanking to turn him back around as she swiveled to face the wall.
"Watch closely," She told him, her hand clenching into a fist that began to knock on particular bricks. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven bricks were knocked on - and then she kicked out with her right foot to an eighth brick near the bottom. All at once with the final kick the wall faded partially, revealing a door-shaped hole in which sat a door-shaped door. "Illusion magic," She explained as she removed a key from somewhere within her coat and placed it into the door's lock, "Are you prepared, Mr. Voden?"
Post by Relos Voden on Nov 15, 2017 9:53:04 GMT -7
Her increasing frustration settled it. She was definitely the person that Relos was looking for. Despite her advice to trust his instincts, he was at a loss for how to conduct himself. His eyes followed the movement of her hand, and as a door revealed itself, Relos couldn't help but be impressed. It figured that someone like Markus Woodrow could have some use for someone with Illusion magic. "I'm skilled in Abjuration magic, myself."
As Marie unlocked the door, Relos nodded. "I've been waiting for this… How long has this door been here, by the way?" He was preparing to ask a lot more questions, although he was anticipating that he'd have to do answering than asking. This was going to be like an interview, wasn't it? Woodrow had said that the officers would be working for Relos, though would that really be true? It was hard to believe that anyone working for Woodrow would be so willing to report to Relos. He would be the rookie here. Relos tried to maintain a confident posture, but now that he was actually standing beside Marie, and take the first real step in working to clean this place up, the only thing he was certain of was that he was absolutely, most definitely not ready.
Post by Markus Woodrow on Nov 19, 2017 9:49:45 GMT -7
[attr="class","mwoody"]
[attr="class","mwoody2"]
[attr="class","mwoody3"]A PREDATOR OF THE SEAS
[attr="class","mwoody4"]CURING THIS OCEAN DISEASE
[attr="class","mwoody5"] On the other side of the door, was nothing. Not nothing in the sense of emptiness, but rather a warehouse that had nothing in it. She didn't lead him any further in, nor to any other secret doors, instead turning to ensure the door was closed. Once it made a satisfying 'thunk', she pulled a small piece of parchment from her pocket and pressed it flat against the door. Seconds later, the door was a wall once more, but the parchment stuck. At the threshold was a small pile of other square parchments, all with the same language of illusion magic described on them. As she did all this, she answered Relos' question with a noncommittal "Long enough."
When the door was settled, she turned back to Relos, removed her glasses, and crossed her arms over her chest with purpose. She seemed stronger than she had in the cafe, her shoulders were firm and set, and the mousey outfit she was wearing seemed unfitting of her stature - despite the fact that it had seemed perfectly suited to her not an hour ago. "Abjuration is favored among the SSPB," She commented, approving his skills without seeming to be kind, "What can you do with it?"
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
FORTUNA-RPG was created by MELLIE. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
